


You Will Endure

by Xandriaale



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Female Reader, First Archive Work, I also wanted to explore some of my headcannons about how time works in the Undertale universe, I wanted to give second person and shot and figured this would be a fun way to do it, Monster History, Multi, Reader Is Not Frisk, Slow Burn, Will update tags as chapters update, almost forgot that tag oops, updates may be kind of sporadic, well let's get this party started, you may or may not bone the skeleton it depends on whether or not I can actually write smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-07-23 22:36:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7482573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xandriaale/pseuds/Xandriaale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been five days of wandering around on this godforsaken mountain. You can't tell which way leads to town anymore, which is--in your humble opinion--bullshit, since you grew up in the town at the base of Mt. Ebott and therefore have been scrambling your way up and down it for well over a decade. </p>
<p>You run into the Undertale gang, and think you're dying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which You Suddenly Don't Know Mount Ebott Like The Back Of Your Hand

**Author's Note:**

> Okie dokie! This is my first work published to the archive, and I'm really excited to share some of my headcannons with you all, as well as getting feedback on characterization and pacing and other such things. I'm going to try and stick to a regular writing schedule, but how well that translates into an actual updating schedule....??? Well, we'll see how it goes! Might as well get used to writing regularly, then I can worry about being able to update regularly. Baby steps. If you have any questions or feedback, please don't be shy!

It's been five days of wandering around on this godforsaken mountain. You can't tell which way leads to town anymore, which is--in your humble opinion--bullshit, since you grew up in the town at the base of Mt. Ebott and therefore have been scrambling your way up and down it for well over a decade.

  
You had made your way to your favorite clearing to watch the meteor shower, a cozy place encircled mostly by trees aside from a shallow pond overlooking a rocky slope, not steep enough to be called a cliff, but not gradual enough to be climable. You had brought one of your thickest blankets as extra cushioning against the already soft grass, a few bottles of water, some granola bars, and your grandfather's Polaroid camera, safely tucked away in your weatherproof backpack. You knew the pathway to the clearing like the back of your hand, though the random passerby would overlook it. You laid out while the sun was setting and enjoyed the peace and quiet around you. Just as with the other times you had done this, you were amazed and contented by the streaks of light caressing the sky. Before you knew it, you had fallen asleep under the dripping stars.

That wasn't the first time you had fallen asleep out there, and not the first time you had been awoken by rain, but it was the first time that said rain had come in the form of a torrential downpour. You sputtered awake, the half-mouthful of rainwater you had collected flowing out and dribbling down your chin, the sensation of water on your skin losing singularity somewhere near the middle of your throat and blending in with the rest of the rain. Blinded by the water and hair in your eyes you began grabbing wildly for your things. Your blanket was absolutely sodden, weighing heavily in your arms. You turned for what you believed to be the break in the trees, and made to begin making your way back home. As misfortune would have it, the moment your foot got wound in the blanket was the moment you stepped along the slick edge of the pond. You careened forward, tumbling over the edge and rolling down the rocky slope you had never dared traverse.

By the time you rolled to a stop you were covered in mud, and your blanket, which had somewhat wrapped around you during your descent, had ripped in multiple places. Shifting to stand left you feeling pretty sure your wrist was sprained, or worse. Groaning, you stood shakily on your feet. You couldn't go back the way you came, that much was certain. Dizzy from the fall, and unable to see through the rain, you knew that you wouldn't be able to get your bearings. You wadded your blanket up in your arms and made your way towards the shadows of what you hoped were trees.

That was five days ago. When the rain finally stopped, your shivering form emerged from underneath a particularly wide fir. You knew that you had fallen into the partial crater along Mt. Ebott's northern face, and the town was at the base on the southern side. You just had to find a way to get to the base of the mountain and then follow it around. Easy peasy, right? Wrong. Your phone was nowhere to be found, you ran out of granola bars after two days, and this morning had seen the last of your water. Dehydrated and starving, the sunset of your fifth day was shining upon you, promising another cold, dreary, night. Your head was pounding, your lips cracked and tongue thick from lack of water. Your stomach was tearing itself apart, and every stumble aggravated your injuries. The blanket had been abandoned during either day two or three, having not dried properly it was beginning to mildew and mold; the smell made you wretch. The bright orange of the sun glinted off a scraggly rockface.

Your foot caught on a rock, and down you went. You knew you needed to stand, but couldn't bring yourself to do so.

_Maybe I'll just... take a nap here. I can keep going once some of my strength comes back._

"-INALLY MEETING THE SUN!"

_What... was that? Was that a voice?_ It was faint, and there seemed to be other voices. Adrenaline began coursing through your veins. _If I can just get to them... they can help me get home._ You pushed yourself to your feet, and began moving towards the sounds you desperately hoped belonged to people. As you neared them, you were able to make more out.

"-ST MASCOT! I'LL GO MAKE A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION!"

You knew you had to be getting close. You rounded a corner and almost ran into a.... a.......

You had to be hallucinating. That's it. That's the only logical explanation as to why a skeleton would have just skidded to a stop, orange gloved hands slowly reaching up to rest on either side of... their (???) jaw. Somehow, the skeleton's eyesockets grew in size and lights began twinkling from deep within the darkness. A high pitched noise was filling your ears and eventually you realized it was coming from the skeleton.

"WOWIE!" Oh wow, okay. That is one loud hallucination. "YOU ARE THE VERY FIRST SURFACE HUMAN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE COME ACROSS!" The hallucination strode quickly towards you, and grabbed your injured arm with both hands, shaking it vigorously up and down. "YOU ARE HONORED TO MAKE MY ACQUAINTANCE! PLEASE, CAN YOU TELL- SURFACE HUMAN? SURFACE HUMAN, ARE YOU ALRIGHT? I DO NOT MEAN TO FRIGHTEN YOU, PLEASE, LET ME HELP YOU BACK UP!" You were staring up at it from the ground, having flinched back so hard when your injured wrist was jostled that you stumbled and fell. The fall had started up a ringing in your head, and everything was spinning dangerously. You vaguely noticed a blue, fish-like hallucination joining the skeleton.

_This is it, I'm going to die out here. There wasn't ever anyone nearby._

"Hey! You! What'ya keep gawkin' at? We're just monsters!"

_I'm alone on this mountain and now I'm seeing things._ You only dimly registered the grit of rock against your cheek.

"UM... HUMAN?"

"Hey, punk, this isn't funny. You need to stand up."

"U-um, U-Undyne?"

_Oh look, another one. Yellow this time. Yellow is a nice color._

"Alphys!"

"WE THINK SOMETHING MAY BE WRONG WITH THE HUMAN!"

"Oh, u-um... l-let me take a l-look at th-them."

_Heh. Huh. So this is how my brain wants to send me off. I guess there are worse things to hallucinate._

"I th-think th-they're sick. I'm g-going to pull out th-their SOUL to take a l-look at th-their HP."

_Soul? I didn't know I really believed in souls._

Your vision grew dark around the edges, around most of your field of vision, actually. All you could clearly see was a white dinosaur, wearing glasses and a lab coat. _Where did the yellow one go? Did the sun set?_ The ringing in your ears was deafening now. You felt a tightness in your chest, and tried to sit up, or cough? Coughing helped heart attacks, right? Was this a heart attack? Was your body shutting down? You thought the human body could last longer than five days without food and water. A dim shimmer of color caught your eye. A shimmery, light periwinkle cartoon heart was floating in the darkness between you and the white dinosaur. The dinosaur raised a taloned hand and twisted it like they were screwing in a light bulb. The heart grew a bit brighter, and underneath it something akin to a loading bar appeared. It was mostly empty, save for a slim bar of that same periwinkle color at the end. There were words underneath, but you were too dazed to try and read them.

"Oh no..." The dinosaur made a shoving motion and the periwinkle heart disappeared. The darkness slowly regressed, the white dinosaur slowly fading into a yellow and white blob. The ringing was back in full force, and you couldn't make out what the raised voices were saying. You felt yourself being moved, but couldn't keep your eyes open long enough to register more than a bit of white against a field of purple. You finally lost conciousness, surrounded by the smell of butterscotch and cinnamon.

~~~~~

The darkness surrounding you was comforting. Gently you floated through the emptiness, feet never really connecting to any kind of surface. You didn't feel the relentless scrape of air against your parched throat, the ringing in your ears simply a painful memory. Faintly, you heard whispers amidst the inky depths. They grew closer, and circled you, though no source was to be seen. They hissed. They took on a tint of curiosity. A disfigured skeletal hand emerged in front of you, the fused-together bones of the palm marred by a gaping hole. As the hand grew closer to you, all you felt was apathy. Slowly the whispers grew to something you could faintly make out, but not understand. Though the whispers were clear, they were nonsense, sounds that may have once been considered syllables run through a blender and half-burnt. You tried to focus on them.

"Way cup, deer. Mice unwieghts four youth owe heed us knot no wit." The hand floated ever closer, pressing against your forehead with a warmth that took you by surprise. The whisper's touch rekindled your emotions, a sense of urgency growing as you realized that you weren't floating in the darkness, you were stuck in it. You tried pulling yourself free to no avail, you cried out without making a sound. Another hand appeared, a mirror image of the first, and laid itself over your heart. The extra warmth gave you the strength to press against the blackness weighing down on you.

"Way cup." The whispers said, louder this time. "Way cup!"

~~~~~

You gasped into awareness in a brightly lit room. The tile ceiling far above your head, the yellow walls unfamiliar. You were covered by a pink blanket, and sat up gingerly, swinging your feet down to rest on the grid-marked floor.

"hey." A new weight on your shoulder, paired with the unexpected voice and unfamiliar surroundings, sent you lurching off the bed and tumbling to the cool, smooth floor. "you should probably stay in bed, buddy. you've been asleep for a- _tile_."

When you registered the pun, the noise that you made was somewhere between a laugh and a groan.

"heh, that's what i like to hear. now, c'mon. me and the kid'll help you up." A pair of fuzzy slippers shuffled into your line of vision, followed quickly by a much smaller pair of boots. Looking up, you were more than surprised to see another skeleton! Not the same from before, no, this one was shorter, more sturdy looking. A frizzy-haired child stood next to it, a child you recognized.

"Frisk!" You swept them into your arms, holding them close to you and snuffling your nose into their brown hair. "Frisk! Oh, let me look at you. Are you hurt? Where have you been?" You pulled back to check them over for injuries, but they pushed your hands away and began signing.

**I'm alright, I made some new friends!** They turned to partially face the skeleton. **Sans kept on eye on me while I was underground!**

"heh, good one, kiddo." You assumed Frisk made an inside joke, since you couldn't discern one. "but yeah, i'm sans. sans the skeleton."

**He helped me.** You looked briefly between the two of them. Then smiled at Sans.

"Thank you, Sans, for looking out for them."

"frisk is a good kid, so it wasn't any skin off my nose." You rolled your eyes good-naturedly. Puns and jokes seemed to be his thing.

**Come on! I want you to meet everybody!** The excited child grabbed your hand and pulled you off the bed. Still a bit dizzy you almost toppled over and into Sans, thankfully you caught yourself before you actually fell on him. You made sure your feet were firmly planted on the floor before looking up at Sans to apologize for almost crushing him. But, he wasn't there? He was actually about three feet to the left, completely out of the way of your uncoordinated self. _Weird._ Before you could think much more on that, Frisk tugged at your hand again, bypassing a nearby moving sidewalk and heading for a set of stairs.

_Okay. So. The real question. Am I still hallucinating?Or worse, am I dead?_ Frisk held onto your hand all the way downstairs, where the creatures from before, as well as a few extras, were gathered. The tapping of Frisk's feet against the tile drew everyone's attention as the two of you descended. As soon as you reached them, Frisk began signing rapidly. **Everybody can relax now! She's awake!** It seemed like everyone present unleashed a collective breath. A large ( _Very large, hoo boy._ ) anthropomorphic goat with a golden beard and a crown shuffled forward.

"How are you feeling?" His deep voice had a slight accent to it, one you couldn't place. Concern dripped from his words, and you immediately felt guilty for inconveniencing everyone. "Are you recovered? Frisk did not wake you up too early, did they?"

"Aside from some initial dizziness, I feel better than I have in years. And, if I'm being completely honest, that feeling... paired with seeing Frisk? And seeing all of you? I really don't mean to be rude, but a part of me is worried I'm still on the mountainside and this is all a dream my mind is creating to distract me from a failing body."

"I can assure you, my child, that this is all quite real." The soft-spoken words came from another goat-creature. Slightly smaller than the first but still much much taller than you. "Your HP was nearly depleted. We brought you back here and healed you." She gestured to the yellow dinosaur somewhat hiding behind the blue fish woman from before. "Doctor Alphys here recognized the signs of, what was it Alphys?"

"Dehyd-dration and ma-malnutrition." The poor thing had one hand wound tight in her lab coat, and with the other she was somehow managing to chew at her talons while holding the red-headed fish woman's hand.

"We are a race of creatures know as Monsters," the golden-bearded goat spoke again. "More centuries ago than I care to count, humans and monsters engaged in a vicious war. Humanity won, and seven of the most powerful mages created a barrier sealing all Monsters underground." He turned and looked fondly at Frisk, unshed tears shining in his eyes. "This brave, determined child helped break the barrier so that we may finally be free." It was impossible not to be moved by the emotions in his voice. "However, when you collapsed we did not know where to take you on the surface, so we brought you back Underground."

"We're in the Underground right now?" You asked, a sense of horror growing in your chest. The panic was evidently apparent on your face, for just about every monster present shifted in some way.

"Why in the world did you bring me down here?" The words came out before you really had a chance to think about them. The fish monster shifted into an aggressive stance.

"Yeah, well, we could'a just left you there!"

Oh no, you didn't mean to offend her, you just...

"That's.... that's not what I meant."

"well, uh, how exactly did you mean it buddy?" Sans' voice came from directly behind you, you hadn't realized he had come downstairs.

"You all have been trapped down here for.... centuries?" You look quickly to the crowned goat, who nods gently. "And you were free? And I come along and pass out because I don't know how to walk around in a rainstorm and so you go back underground?!" You were feeling exquisitely guilty now. "How many of you are there? Did everyone have to come back?"

"Our group is the only one to have actually been to the surface, but there are thousands upon thousands of monsters waiting for their chance." The lady goat said softly. "We have not let anyone pass, since Asgore and I will be needed to make diplomatic talks with humanity's leaders. And Frisk, who is our monster-human ambassador, has not been willing to leave your side. We did not want any well-meaning monsters to panic the humans and cause another war."

"We have to leave right now!" You practically yelled. "Like, right now right now!"

**But I need to introduce you to everybody!**

"Frisk, sweetie. We can do introductions when everybody has permission to see the sunshine, okay." You thought for a moment. "Or moon...shine... I'm not quite sure how long I was out for." The tall skeleton, you recall him introducing himself as The Great Papyrus, raised a gloved finger, inhaling deeply to speak but you stopped him before he got a word out. "Tell me on the surface, okay?"

"My child, are you sure you are completely well?" The lady goat seemed amused.

"Yep! Just dandy!" You jumped and clicked your heels together. "See? Perfectly fine, full mobility, let's go let's go!" With that, you took off at a brisk pace, but almost immediately stopped to turn sheepishly around. "I... Um... I don't actually know how to get to the surface from here..."

"I KNOW HOW!" Papyrus struck a pose, and you couldn't help but smile. Frisk clapped twice to get everyone's attention. They had a mischievous glint in their eye.

**Let's have a race!**

"Aw heck yeah!" The blue fish monster had a manic grin on her face. "I'm gonna leave all of you in the dirt!" Papyrus, the fish monster, Frisk and yourself all ran to line up in front of a metal door that slid open as the four of you approached. "Alphy, you wanna see me beat these nerds?"

"I'll be ch-cheering you on, U-Undyne!" Her excitement pushed her volume louder than you had previously heard her speak. "I-I'll watch from the monitors th-though, I still have to finish p-programming the alert l-letting everyone know it's okay to l-leave, and I'd n-never be able to k-keep u-up anyw-way." Her stuttering grew worse and her volume lessened as she realized how loud she had gotten.

"We will stay behind momentarily to help record the alerts, and will join you all on the surface shortly." The crowned goat monster said, you were assuming this was the Asgore that the lady goat monster mentioned, since, you know, _crown_. People with crowns usually are the ones to talk to other diplomatic leaders and what have you.

"SANS ARE YOU GOING TO RACE?"

"nah paps, you're gonna win anyways."

"THANK YOU BROTH-"

"i feel it in my _sole_."

"UGH SANS, I RETRACT MY REQUEST FOR YOU TO PARTICIPATE." You snicker at their antics.

"Alright, nerds! Let's get this race moving!" Undyne's grin was razor sharp. "Last one to MTT Resort is a rotten Temmie flake! On your mark! Get set! Go!"

The four of you took off out of the doors, the intense heat taking you by surprise, it didn't seem this hot while you were standing next to the open door. Everyone made a sharp right turn and continued along a narrower path. Undyne was far ahead of everyone, Papyrus was between Undyne and Frisk, running backwards and shouting encouragements. Frisk wasn't far behind him, but you were trailing. And the distance just kept getting longer and longer.

"YOU CAN DO IT HUMAN!" His enthusiasm was boundless it seemed, and you didn't want to let him down. You picked up the pace. If only you could endure this a little bit longer, the resort Undyne mentioned had to be coming up. As you followed them around another corner you saw Undyne jogging in place next to an elevator, talking to... Sans? By the time you reached them all at the elevator, it was dinging it's arrival and Papyrus was groaning at something Sans had said that you didn't catch over your own ragged breaths. _Wow. Okay. Out of shape. Really out of shape._  
For a few moments all that could be heard was your heavy breathing. Thankfully, Sans decided to break the silence.

"how do you know the kiddo?"

**They're my babysitter!** Frisk was beaming. **Yesterday we watched Finding Nemo!** Wait a second. Did you see that sign correctly?

"Frisk, honey... It wasn't yest-" You were cut off as the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open. Unbeknownst to everyone, the pinpricks of light that served as Sans' pupils disappeared at the tone in your voice. Undyne was off like a bullet but Papyrus and Frisk stayed to run with you.

"hey, i'll show her how to get to the resort. you two _catch_ up to undyne." Papryus didn't even groan this time, he simply bent at the waist like he was slumping over, but his legs were still jogging in place. Frisk winked at you, as flirtatious as ever, and the two of them took off. Sans slid his gaze over to you. "so. how long has the kid actually been missin'?"

You sighed deeply, wringing your hands.

"Three years."


	2. In Which You Have A Nice Long Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> None of this is actually beta'd, so I apologize for any mistakes there may be.

Sans stayed silent, but began walking. You kept a little ways behind him, not wanting to interrupt him if he was deep in thought. You couldn't quite tell. His face was exceptionally hard to read, what with his perma-grin and all that. His eyelids had a surprising amount of movement, so you weren't quite sure why the rest of his face was so fixed. The two of you passed by a cute vendor cart with a handwritten sign taped to the front. _Changing locations!_ It said. _Enjoy your Nice Cream under the sun!_ A little blue bunny head was stamped near the bottom corner. All these monsters were so excited to leave. You felt even worse for being the reason why they had to wait when their long-awaited freedom was so close. 

"so, uh, three years?" Sans interrupted your guilty thoughts. "how did the kiddo’s parents hold up?" You shook your head sadly, and wrapped your arms around yourself.

"When Frisk first disappeared, their mother and father nearly lost their minds. They looked everywhere, organized search parties, they even had people investigated to see if Frisk had been taken." You shivered slightly, despite the heat, as you reminisced. "They even pulled me in for questioning. I've been babysitting Frisk since they were two years old. I see them as a younger sibling. After the police released me, their dad stopped by my house, drunk as a skunk and screaming about how he knew I had taken his only child. He was a broken man, Sans. I'll never forget the look in his eyes that night." Sans stopped walking and turned his full attention on you. "He would have killed me if he knew that doing so would bring Frisk back."

You shook your head to break up the memories that had surrounded you. "I have a little clearing on Mount Ebott where I like to go and look at the stars. It's hard to find if you don't know how. I've taken Frisk several times, always with their parent's permission, but their mother and father never actually went themselves. A few months after Frisk's disappearance they came to my door, asking me to take them to it. What if Frisk had tried to go there on their own? At this point they were hoping to at least find a body, so they could have some kind of closure." Sans' grin wasn't as pronounced now, the corners shifted down just the smallest bit. "It was the middle of October and raining horribly and I had the flu. I told them I would take them in the morning when the weather had cleared up and I wasn't drowsy from cold medicine. They didn't want to wait for me. I explained as best I could, drew them a map and everything." You kept your eyes trained on the ground, ashamed of what you still had to say. 

"There was a crash. They both died." It had been nearly two and a half years since the accident, but you still felt tears well up in your eyes at the memory of two human beings that you had once called family. "They both died looking for their child because I didn't want to get my ass out of bed and help them. It's my fault."

"no it's not." The hand rubbing gently in the middle of your back was unexpected, but extremely comforting. "i think that if you'd'a been in that car with them you would'a been gone too. they decided to go out on their own in a rainstorm. they made their own choice." His tone was soothing, and you hastily wiped away a tear that was dripping down your cheek. 

"Yeah, well. I still feel like there's more I could have done, you know?"

"sometimes all ya can do is sit back and let people make their choices. even if ya know it's gonna hurt."

You side-eyed him. 

"I think this is the most I've heard you speak without making some kind of pun."

"what, are ya _dyin'_ to hear more of my jokes?" You froze, and the tears you had been holding back overflowed. "oh, jeez, i didn't mean to make you cry-" He was flustered, looked guilty as all get out, and slowly took his hand off your back. You only registered that you were crying for a moment before you were laughing. It started down in your lungs and built until it was pouring out of you like your tears. To say Sans was confused was an understatement.

“That-That was _so bad_!” You were having a hard time catching your breath. “Like, I want to say ‘Too soon, man, too soon.’ but it was years ago. Ooooh my goodness, that was terrible.” You finally were able to stop and take a few deep breaths, not realizing a gentle smile was growing on your lips. “But it was a good one, too.” You turned to Sans, the small smile on your face reminding him of nights at Grillby’s where every seat was taken, every glass full. Grillby would put down whatever he was doing and simply watch. Content. He had a feeling that you and Grillby would get along. “Thank you, Sans. I actually really needed that.” 

“what can i say, i’m _heartless_.” This sent you into another round of giggles, and Sans relaxed enough to put his hands back in his pockets. “shall we?”

“Oh! Of course, you probably want to get back out there and see the sun, I’m sorry for keeping you behind.”

“you don’t have to apologize buddy, _tibia_ -nest, i’d rather hold back than risk the kid overhearin’ what you said.” The two of you continued walking, but you were much more subdued. 

“How am I gonna tell them, Sans?”

“i’d wait ‘til tori was around, the kid basically sees her as a mother figure, maybe she’ll be able to keep them calm.”

“Tori?”

“oh, yeah, the kiddo didn’t get to do introductions. toriel is the one who stayed back with the king and alphys to work on the alerts.” You realized he was talking about the lady goat. _Cool, now I can stop calling her that._

_Was that nickname racist?_

You were distracted from that train of thought as the two of you came upon a massive building. Bright spotlights shone from various windows, illuminating giant posters and sculptures adorning nearly every wall of the enormous cavern. They were all of two, well you assumed they had to be, monsters. One of them looked like a calculator on a unicycle, and the other was some kind of anime robot. 

“Who are those two?” You asked, pointing up. Sans followed your finger, and began laughing. 

“the same person, first of all.” At the confused purse of your lips he decided to let you off easy. “his name’s mettaton, he was a ghost monster that alphys built a body for. he usually looks like easy-bake-oven over there, but for special occasions he brings out leggy mcgee.”

“Gee, what did he do to earn all these likenesses of himself?” Your eyes caught the name of the building. “I guess MTT stands for Mettaton?” 

“yep. he’s the star of the underground. did his best to keep us entertained while we’ve been down here.” His smile widened just the tiniest bit. “Paps absolutely loves his stuff, so the guy’s okay in my book.” You both stood there, you silently wondering if one monster really needed this many images of himself. _But hey, if you’ve got it, flaunt it, I guess._ A sound you recognized as the TARDIS from Doctor Who grabbed your attention. Sans was digging around in his pocket, and pulled out a cellphone, the source of the noise. A single ketchep packet also fell out and you stooped to grab it as he answered the phone. “heya paps, how was the race?” He took the ketchup packet back from you and pocketed it with a wink. “oh, yeah, i’m still with her.”

“okay.”

“okay.”

“sure thing paps.”

“okay.” He hung up and put his phone away. “paps said they’re goin’ on ahead to the throne room. they wanna wait for everybody there.”

“Sounds good!” You smiled and held the door to the resort open. “Lead the way!”

~~~~~

The resort lobby was beyond lavish, aside from a broken fountain nozzle spraying water out onto the marble floor. Only a few monsters were milling around in the lobby, a few holding bags while others seemed to be mentally packing and on their way to retrieve their belongings. The Underground had the feel of a college campus on moving-out day, lots of excitement, but a bit of sadness for what would be left behind. The only monster that didn’t seem to be making any sort of preparations was an orange feline leaning behind the counter at a fast food restraunt that opened up into the resort. They caught your eye as you and Sans walked past the sliding glass doors, straigtening up immediately and plastering one of the most pained smiles you’d ever seen onto their face. _Ah, the food service industry._ You gave them a small little wave, which was hesitantly returned just as you passed out of sight. You turned your head just in time to swerve your way around a monster waiting in a line that wound through the lobby and led to a single elevator. 

“Oh, goodness I’m so sorry! I wasn’t even watching where I was going!” The slime creature merely gurgled and waved off your apology with a smile. Sans was a little ways ahead, and you half-jogged for a few steps to catch up to him. “Hey, all these monsters are waiting in line for this elevator. Does it go to the surface?” Sans glanced back to look at you momentarily, and his smile definitely became more of a smirk. 

“nah, that elevator leads to the core. from there you have to head to the castle through new home and then follow the path out the back of the throne room”

“The Core?”

“yeah, it’s like a big, uh, generator. Keeps everything down here up and running.” The two of you walked through another set of sliding doors and were looking at a bridge to a giant metal building. “in fact, here it is now.”

“Really? Wow! What’s it run off of?”

“magic.” You barked a laugh.

“C’mon Sans, what’s it really run off of?”

“really, magic.” You came to a dead stop in the middle of the bridge. 

“You’re serious.”

“as a heart attack buddy.” 

“I get the feeling you’re not talking about card tricks and illusions.” You really couldn’t wrap your head around the idea that magic was real. “Is magic just... in the air? Do monsters channel it? Can all monsters use it? Where does it come from? How did you make a machine that can convert magical energy into electrical energy?” Sans cut you off with a hand on your shoulder. 

“kay so humans are made of physical stuff, right?” You nod in agreement. “well, monsters are made of magic, every monster can use it to some degree but no two monsters types use it in the exact same way.” You can follow along with this, and nod again. “monsters are essentially SOULS encasing themselves with physical forms as a magical shield.”

“So can you change what you look like?”

“nah, nothing like that. similar SOULS will take similar shapes, like me and paps. the basic form is part of the SOUL, but keeping it stable and the differences between each indiviual monster is just that, individual.”

“So like DNA!” He perked up at that.

“yeah, like dna.”

“Okay, so what kind of magic can you do?” He put his hand back in his pocket and winked at you.

“wouldn’t ya’ like to know.”

“Yes! That’s why I asked!” You were pouting now, you knew it. But you couldn’t help it. Magic was real! And here was someone who could actually do magic! “Please Sans!”

“maybe next time friendo. c’mon, let’s catch up to them before it gets real crowded.”

~~~~~

The two of you made small talk through the core. Occasionally your eye would catch on something interesting and you’d ask Sans about it. He had answers for nearly all of your questions. A small part in the back of your mind wondered if he was just making stuff up, but you didn’t pay that part much attention. The two of you boarded another elevator, and arrived in a gray stone hallway. 

“do ya wanna go through new home? or take the shortcut?”

“Hmm, we should really catch up to the others. A shortcut sounds good to me!”

“i’ll, uh.... i’ll be honest pal, i figured you’d wanna take your time going through this place.”

“Well, I’m sure I’ll be able to come back.” His eyes caught yours inquisitively. “I mean, once humanity knows about you guys they’ll probably want to know where you all have been all this time. I won’t be surprised if there are tourism centers set up near here and sending buses down before the year is out. Humans are pretty curious, you know.” Sans thought back to the many many _many_ questions you had asked on the walk and huffed out a laugh.

“yeah, i think i can see that bein’ true.” He shrugged and jerked his head towards something further down the hall. “c’mon, our shortcut awaits.” 

Another elevator door awaited you, but as Sans called the car, you took the chance to take in the view of the city below you. It was bustling, monsters coming and going every which way, it reminded you a lot New York. You recalled something Toriel had said, about all the monsters waiting to leave. 

“Sans?”

“hmmm?”

“Are there really thousands of you down here?” Your gaze strayed over the underground city, and while it was large, it wasn’t _that_ large. 

“tens of thousands.”

“Wow.”

“yeah.”

~~~~~

“not much farther now.” Sans said as the two of you exited the elevator. “the throne room’s just past this hallway.” You followed him through a dark archway and into... into...

One of the most beautiful places you’d ever seen. 

Golden light filtered through enormous stained glass windows on either side of the hall, bathing everything in it’s glow. Enormous pillars rose up, up, up to support a fresco-painted ceiling. The area closest to the archway you came through showed two, presumably royal, families. One monster and one human. The horned goat King and his Queen each rested a hand on their child’s shoulder, and the King held a hand out to the human King. Above his hand (paw?) burned a small flame. The human royalty were similarly assembled, but the human King held out a torch to the flame in the goat King’s hand. As you continued down the hallway, the peace that humans and monsters had found broke down into full out war. The monster King weaved through armies, his trident glowing red with either blood or power, until, finally, about halfway down the hallway, he fell in battle. The child from the beginning of the hallway, though no longer a child, no, he had horns of his own now, picked up his father’s crown and trident and knelt at the human King’s feet. 

The monsters were cast into the underground, and a group of seven humans, terrifying and powerful, locked them away. The monsters built themselves a new home, watched over by their new King and Queen. A symbol over took the far end of the painting, a design that seemed slightly familiar, though you couldn’t quite place where you’d seen it before. A circle, flanked by wings, atop three triangles. Between the circle and the triangles sat a bright red heart. The image left you feeling hopeful, a feeling you were sure many of the monsters had to have also experienced. You looked back to the young new king kneeling in a pile of dust.

“Sans, how long has Asgore been King?” 

“Sans?” You finally looked down from the painting and around the hall. Sans was nowhere to be found. “Sans, where’d you go?” You turned around in a circle looking for him. Maybe he continued on to the throne room, he did say it was just past this hallway.

You made your way towards the far door, telling yourself not to forget your question about Asgore. However, in the span of a blink, Sans appeared between you and the archway. 

“There you are, Sans. Where’d you go?” He didn’t answer you. “Sans?”

“let me tell ya buddy, ya seem like a good person.” He began, his voice hollow-sounding and empty of the mirth and warmth you were now used to hearing. “but i know how fast humans can change.”

“Sans, what are you talking about?”

“ya wouldn’t know this, but i’ve judged every human that’s come through this hallway.” You were completely lost, but stayed silent. “i don’t see any reason to stop now.”

Your vision darkened until all you could see was a black and white version of Sans, the periwinkle heart and bar back from before. The bar was almost completely full this time, and Sans’ usually relaxed posture was stiff. 

“now, usually I don’t go around initiatin’ a SOUL battle during judgement, but by time all the other humans got to me i knew how they reacted to one.” You were spectacularly lost now, but felt your heart race at the word “battle”. “some of ‘em spared, some of ‘em fought, some of ‘em betrayed, some of ‘em **S L A U G H T E R E D**.” His eyes went completely dark, and his voice echoed strangely through the hall. A moment later, the pinpricks of light returned.

 _Wait, what? What’s happening?_

“now, you may think you have a couple of options there, pal.”

_No, no I don’t want to fight. Where did this come from? What is he talking about, options?_

“but i’m tellin’ ya, you do anything outta line,” The lights in his eyes disappeared again.

_No no nonononono._

**“A N D Y O U A R E N O T G O N N A L I V E T O R E G R E T I T.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you don't immediately fall head over heels for the skeleton, and he doesn't immediately fall head over heels for you. Writing this relationship is going to be a lot of fun, and I can't wait for you all to see some of the ideas I've come up with! Until next time!


	3. In Which Things End Up... Okay?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> I am, in fact, alive. For the past few months I've been stage managing a production on campus, and between early work shifts, daytime classes, and late rehearsals I've been getting about three and a half hours of sleep a night. Needless to say, that kind of timetable doesn't necessarily lend itself to creative productivity. But here we go! The next chapter. Things should go back to some kind of regularity.

Everything within you shut down. You weren’t a fan of confrontation, and hoo boy did this have confrontation written all over it.

_No, seriously. It’s written all over it._

A sentence floats in the middle of your field of vision reading: *Your first confrontation.* Your periwinkle heart, and you know without a doubt that it was yours, floats gently inside a square just underneath. _What do I do?_ The text above the box changes to say  *You are thinking.* _Oh, god. Is this thing reading my mind?_ _Is Sans reading my mind? Oh my god, Sans? Hello? Sans if you’re listening I really don’t wanna fight so can you like, I don’t know, shake your head or something?_ No reaction from Sans. _Maybe he is reading my mind and this is a test. Maybe he can hear everything but doesn’t want to give it away. Yeah, that must be it._

*You are kind of freaking out.* _Wow, A plus information here. I totally didn't realize that._ You decide to ignore the text dialogue for now.

“Who, um, who goes first?”

Sans’ hostility seemingly melts away: hands in pockets, eyes half-lidded. You're not reassured though. Your entire body is locked into panic-mode. You can hear your heartbeat pounding in your ears, the periwinkle heart pulsing in time. Your hands clench and unclench, twist themselves together and then shake violently apart and begin the cycle anew. The words and your heart begin to shine even brighter than before, the square around your heart growing to a wide rectangle.

“you go first, pal.” You can't even hear any of Sans’ previous malice. _I wonder how it is he’s so good at seeming calm and collected when he can’t really be?_

*You truly don't want to do this?* _That's right! I sure as hell don't! This has to be some kind of.... of.... misunderstanding. Yeah! A bone-afide minsunderstanding._

*You should be focusing on the fight.*

"But I don't want to fight!" You yell out, taking Sans by surprise. "So can you say something, I don't know, helpful, maybe?"

"uh... pal?"

"Just a second Sans," you cross your arms and raise an eyebrow, eyes trained on the words in front of you. "And you need to stop thinking this is a fight, because I am not about to fight Sans. He seems like a cool, if occasionally terrifying, little dude."

*This is not how things are usually done.*

"Well I could give a rat's ass about how things are usually done!" There is an unusually long pause before the dialogue changes again.

*You are only prolonging the inevitable.*

"Okay, FIRST OF ALL, who the hell do you think you are? You can't just appear as a bunch of words in space, and insist that I fight this living entity that I have been enjoying my time with, you know, up until the point where he got, like, hella scary." You notice out of the corner of your eye that Sans has taken a seat on the ground and is opening a ketchup packet with the brightest eye-dots you've ever seen and a smile much more genuine than the one he had about 45 seconds ago. "What gives you the right to try and make me fight someone that I actually really want to be my friend? This guy, right here?" You point to Sans, who is throwing the now empty ketchup packet to the ground and opening another. "He helped Frisk. That's all I need to know to know he's a good guy. I'm not going to fight him, so you can just go back to wherever it is you came from."

*This is highly unusual... You are highly unusual.*

"Thank you." You cross your arms and glare at the words.

*I am not sure what you are waiting for.*

"For you to tell me how to stop this without fighting."

*You must ACT.*

"Like, recite something from a movie?"

*No, ACT. It should be one of your four options, FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, and MERCY.*

"Uh, options?" You caught Sans' eyes and gave a confused shrug. "I don't see anything like those?" Sans' shocked splutter surprises you.

"wait, you don't have them?"

"Am I supposed to see something other than body-less entity's words here?"

"uh, yeah" *Yes*

*Tell Sans to SPARE.*

"Sans, it says for you to SPARE?" The skeleton stood up, a small mountain of empty ketchup packets fluttering to the ground, _how many does he have in his pocket? And where is all the ketchup going???_ He rubbed a hand nervously along the back of his skull.

"uh, pal... it's not my turn. i can't do that right now."

"So are we just stuck in this, whatever this is?"

*No. We can finish this in the old way. Just give me a moment.* A few seconds of silence passed. *I need to you write out this sentence, and tell Sans to read it aloud after you say the phrase I give you. It's very important that you do not say his sentence aloud, or either of you misplace any of the words. What we are doing here is very delicate.* You nod, and let Sans know about the plan. He pulled a pen and small note pad out of his pocket, flipping it open to a clean page for you. You write down the sentence given to you as neatly as possible, not wanting any chance of Sans misreading a word.

*Now, tell Sans he needs to stand across from you again, where he was when the encounter started.* You relayed that to Sans, and wondered why Sans couldn't see the dialogue as well. _I'll save that question for when we're not in this "battle" anymore._ Once you were both in place, you read aloud the words in front of you.

"I elect to forfeit my current attempt to gain, either maliciously or no, any rewards, be they monetary, physical, or emotional." The wide rectangle around your heart shrunk back to the small square, and both your SOUL and the words dimmed. Sans coughed gently into his hand, and his eyes went black. For a moment, you were terrified that you had done something wrong.

"I, Sans the Skeleton, accept this forfeiture of gains, and nominate to cease this SOUL encounter on peaceful terms."

*Say, "I second the nomination."*

"I second the nomination." Slowly the world around you faded back to color, and your periwinkle heart sank gently into your chest. "Okay, what the heck just happened?" Sans only stared at you, unblinking, though his pupil-dot-things had returned, so you didn't think he was mad. "Seriously, what did we just do?"

"well, _you_ just sassed the moderator." The confusion must have shown on your face because he sighed and continued talking. "those words you saw, the consciousness that controls them exists within the confines of the SOUL battles. from what i know they've been around for as long as anyone can remember. i'm not sure why you didn't have any of the options though..." His gaze on you turned thoughtful, and remained long enough for you to get a little uncomfortable. Nervously, you shrugged, and began to pick up the empty ketchup packets littering the ground.

"You know more about this than I do." He chuckled darkly, which drew your attention back to his face. His head was turned down, both hands in his pockets and he just radiated _power_. But just like that he was back to normal with a slouch and a grin.

"you have no idea, bucko." He didn't help you pick up the ketchup packets.

After you had gathered them all, you leaned back to look up at the mural and remembered your earlier question. "Sans, how long has Asgore been King?"

"that's what ya ask?" You turned back to him, confused. "it's just that, well, after what just happened you're not gonna ask if i'm gonna come at ya again?"

"I don't think you will." The answer is immediate, and you trust your instincts, but think about it a moment so you can formulate a reason for him other than _because even through all of that I was more scared of the unknown rather than you or your magic._ Slowly, you come to a realization. "You had the chance to attack me."

"nah, you had the first turn." You shook your head.

"But I didn't." Sans looks nervous now, and you continue your reasoning. "When the encounter first started the words and my SOUL were a little dim, and my SOUL was in a tiny square, but then right before you said it was my turn the square got bigger and my SOUL and the words got brighter. After I said what I did about forfeiting it went back to how it was originally. You had the first turn, didn't you? But you passed, or something. To give me a chance, see what I would do." Once again he nervously rubbed his hand along the back of his skull.

"wow, uh... you picked up on that, huh?"

"I'm not all clumsiness, I'll have you know."

"heh, _know_ -ted." There was a small, silent moment as you stood up. "i ACTed, ya know."

"ACTed?"

"yeah, i uh, checked your stats"

"Oh! Like in a video game?" He winced, visibly.

"yeah, like a video game."

"So???"

"so?"

"So how did they look?" He turned around and began walking away, you shoved the handful of ketchup packets into your pocket _ugh, gross, but I can't just leave them here_ and ran after him. "Hey wait up! You haven't answered either of my questions!" The two of you walked in silence for a few moments, leaving the golden beauty of the mural hallway to enter a gray antechamber of some kind. The closer you got to a giant doorway carved into the wall the more you gave up on Sans answering.

"asgore's been king since his dad died during the war."

"So that was him in the mural?"

"yep. the human who killed king asveyrn, well, they did something they shouldn't have. and asgore didn't have any choice but to surrender, for the good of his people." You slowed, lost in thought and humbled by the history you had learned.

"Sans?"

"yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"what for?"

"For the war." You thought for a moment. "And for how humanity is likely to act once you all get out." He sighed, then shrugged.

"yeah, darlin. me too." The two of you stood just outside the doorway for a moment, soft light filtering through the darkness and giving both of you a slight golden glow. "paps and them are through here." You began walking, but a hand on your wrist stopped you. "uh, if you could do me a favor and not mention what just happened, i'd appreciate it." You looked at him, _really_ looked at him. His head was down, his eyes were dim, there were a few drops of sweat beading on his skull, and his grin was uncomfortably strained. _He's scared._

"Okay then, skele-man. Consider it forgotten." He seemed surprised by your easy acceptance of his request, but you took the chance to tug your arm just enough that he was holding your hand instead of your wrist. "Come on! We're almost there and everybody is probably still waiting!" You pulled him along with you into the next room, neither of you noticing the two figures just barely flickering in and out of sight in the shadows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've really missed working on this story, and I'm trying to make it make sense. If you have any feedback, please feel free to leave a comment or send me a message! Thanks for reading!


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